This Iceland-Inspired Tiny House Packs a Lot of Style Into 320 Square Feet

At the beginning of the year, Zillow compiled a list of US cities with the worst housing shortage crises, which predictably included the Los Angeles area. Like other large metropolitan centers, the city has struggled to accommodate its population, despite building homes at a faster pace. Fortunately, designers are developing innovative solutions to the widespread problem like Plús Hús, a tiny home from Santa Monica, California-based design studio Minarc.

Plús Hús, Icelandic for Plus House, is a meager 320 square feet. Its creators are Iceland natives-turned-LA residents Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson. The 16 by 20 prefab units are built with sustainable panels from mnmMOD that create less waste, contain 30 percent recycled material and are completely free of dyes and formaldehyde. The units are also equipped with metal panel roofing, eco-friendly siding, maple interior wall cladding, sliding glass doors and an AC and heating unit.

"The mnmMOD panel system is versatile, recyclable, and extremely energy efficient, and being from Iceland we pay very close attention to the relationships between nature, ourselves, and what we create," Ingjaldsdóttir tells Inhabitat. "We are constantly looking for ways to do better, and using mnmMOD to create Plús Hús–a simple, efficient, multi-purposable structure that capitalizes on these recent law changes while minimizing wasted energy and environmental impact–makes perfect sense." Plus, housing shortages could be alleviated by ADUs like this one, since they can add more housing stock without changing the footprint of the city, making it a sustainable option.

The customizable structures can be used as living spaces, offices or for simple rest and relaxation. Upon purchasing, the units are constructed in mnmMOD's local facility then delivered by members of the Plús Hús team who assemble the structure on site.